Street food of Chennai

Idli and Sambhar, a common dish in Chennai

Street food, as in other areas of India, are popular in Chennai,[1] despite the common belief in India that street food is unhealthy.[2] The Idly Sambhar is a popular dish, which is served as breakfast or dinner. Apart from regular South Indian street food, the city's streets are also filled with several North Indian street food outlets, most of them established by North Indian migrants themselves.[3] Gujarathi[3] and Burmese[4] are also available. Street food in Chennai is so popular that a game had developed based on the TV show The Amazing Race where contestants have to follow clues to Street-food hotspots in the city.[5]

Varieties

Idli Sambhar

Idli Sambhar is a common food in South India. It's a delicacy made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils (de-husked) and rice. Sambar is a lentil based vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind popular in South Indian and Sri Lankan Tamil cuisines adapted in each to its taste and environment.[6]

Samosa

Samosa is a fried or baked pastry with savory filling, such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, lentils and sometimes ground lamb, ground beef or ground chicken.

Murukku

Murukku

Murukku and its many varieties are used in several street food dishes such as the Murukku Sandwich: slices of tomato, cucumber and mint chutney are enclosed by two small, coiled, crunchy Murukkus.[5]

Atho

Atho is a mixture of noodles, shredded cabbage and onions garnished with tamarind, salt, fried onions, chili flakes, garlic and ajinomoto (rarely). It is of Burmese origin and served by Burmese refugees working as vendors in Chennai.[4][7]

Mohinga

Mohinga

Rice vermicelli in fish broth with onions, garlic, ginger, lemon grass and sliced tender core of banana-stem, served with boiled eggs, fried fish cake and fritters[5]

Parotta

A parotta, porotta or barotta, is a layered flat bread of Kerala[8] and some parts of Southern India, notably in Tamil Nadu made from maida flour. This is a variant of the North Indian Lacha Paratha. Parottas are usually available as street food[9] and in restaurants across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka. At some places it is also served at weddings, religious festivals and feasts. It is prepared by kneading maida, egg (in some recipes), oil or ghee and water. The dough is beaten into thin layers and later forming a round spiralled into a ball using these thin layers. The ball is rolled flat and roasted.[10]

Pani Puri

Pani Puri is a popular street snack in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. It consists of a round, hollow puri, fried crisp and filled with a mixture of flavored water ("pani"), tamarind chutney, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas. It is generally small enough to fit completely into one's mouth. Originating from central India, this food has penetrated into the south, too.[11]

Bhel Puri

Bhel Puri

Re-affirming the North Indian penetration into Chennai's street food is Bhel Puri: a savoury Indian snack made out of puffed rice, vegetables and a tangy tamarind sauce[12]

Idiyappam

Idiyappam, or string hoppers, is a traditional Tamil, Kerala, Kodava, Tulu and Sri Lankan food consisting of rice flour pressed into noodle form and then steamed.[13][14]

Muttai Dosai

Muttai Dosai is a variant of Dosa. Dosa is a fermented crepe made from rice batter and black lentils. It is a staple dish in South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. It is also popular in other parts of India, and other countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore (All countries with significant Tamil population live. Muttai Dosa or simply, Egg Dosa, is simply a dosa with egg added.

Biriyani

Biriyani

Biriyani is a hugely popular food in Chennai.[15] It is a mixed rice food with vegetables. It is popular amongst Muslims, and so there is a theory that that the Mughals brought it with them. However, this is unclear and there are other theories that suggest that the Biriyani is an Indian invention.[16] Several Variants of the Biriyani are available. Kushkas are Biriyanis without meat. Other variants include Chicken Biriyani, Mutton Biriyani, Egg Biriyani, etc., for which no explanation other than their names themselves are needed.

Others

Several other street food varieties thrive in Chennai, Some of them are listed here:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Chennai street food". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "6 Reasons Why Street Food Is Unhealthier Than You Thought?". FitHo. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "On the Chennai food trail: Sowcarpet". The Hindu. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Singh, Chowder (13 November 2014). "The Discovery of Chennai's Most Unusual Street Food". NDTV Cooks. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Street Food Around the World. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "11 Famous Street Foods From Top Indian Cities". Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Atho". ChowderSingh. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  8. ↑ Nayar, Parvathy S (July 10, 2013). "Why this Kolaveri against Kerala porotta?". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  9. ↑ T.SARAVANAN. "Flavours from the footpath". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  10. ↑ Sinha, Vipasha (21 August 2013). "Street food in Chennai: hot without the haute". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  11. ↑ SIDDHARTHYA SWAPAN ROY, SWATI DAFTUAR, NEHA MUJUMDAR, ASHA SRIDHAR. "Those vendors of snacks". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  12. ↑ Kitchen Classics. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  13. ↑ 50 of the Best: 30-minute Meals. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  14. ↑ Chettinad kitchen. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  15. ↑ Panikker, Rohit (11 May 2012). "Chennai is a foodie’s fantasy". The Times of India. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "Vir Sanghvi". Retrieved 29 November 2014.